[<<] 1980s Music [>>]
1980s - acid house - hip hop - house - New Romantic - New Wave music - techno
Computer World (1981) - Kraftwerk [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Soundtrack to the 1980s
- 1980: Is It All Over My Face - Loose Joints
- 1981: Together Forever - Exodus
- 1982: Don't Make Me Wait - Peech Boys
- 1983: Ooh, I Love it (love break) (Shep Pettibone remix) - Salsoul Orchestra
- 1984: Set It Off (Walter Gibbons mix) - Strafe
- 1985: You Don't Know - Serious Intention
- 1986: Can You Feel It - Fingers, Inc.
- 1987: Strings of Life - Rhythim is Rhythim (Derrick May)
- 1988: Party People - Royal House (Todd Terry)
- 1989: French Kiss - Lil' Louis
1980s Music overview
Musical genres popular during the 1980s include hip hop, old school rap, heavy metal music, twee pop, hair metal, New Wave music, New Romantic, shoegazing, jangle pop, alternative rock, dream pop, techno, house, acid house, two-tone. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s#Music [Apr 2005]Music groups in the 1980s came from many countries and with many different types of rock/pop music.
These groups benefited from technological advances, the advent of television station MTV, and the production of CDs and music videos to go together with their music.
It must be mentioned that 1980s music is generally very distinct from the music of other decades. While 1960s and 1970s music and well as 1990s and 2000s music share a lot in common, the 80s sound generally is confined to the 1977-1992 period, centering on 1982-1988. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s_music_groups [May 2005]
Chicago house music
Chicago's greatest influence on electronic dance music is as the birthplace of house music. The name house music is said to come from the Chicago dance club, the Warehouse, where the legendary Frankie Knuckles DJed. The classic house record label Trax Records was based in Chicago, and put out seminal house records like Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles's "Your Love" and Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body". Other influential house artists to come out of Chicago include Adonis, Larry Heard, Ron Hardy, Phuture, Robert Owens, and Farley Jackmaster Funk. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Illinois#Electronic_music [Apr 2005]
Chicago house is a style of house music. House music originated in a Chicago, Illinois nightclub called the WareHouse, and this is where the style of music derives its name from. DJ Frankie Knuckles originally popularized house music while working at the WareHouse.
House music grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early 1980s. After disco became popular, certain urban DJs, particularly those in gay communities, altered the music to make it less pop-oriented. The beat became more mechanical and the bass grooves became deeper, while elements of electronic synth pop, Latin soul, dub reggae, rap, and jazz were grafted over the music's insistent, unvarying 4/4 beat. Frequently, the music was purely instrumental and when there were vocalists, they were faceless female divas that often sang wordless melodies.
By the late 1980s, house had broken out of underground clubs in cities like Chicago, New York, and London, and had begun making inroads on the pop charts, particularly in England and Europe but later in America under the guise of artists like C+C Music Factory and Madonna. At the same time, house was breaking into the pop charts; it fragmented into a number of subgenres, including hip-house, ambient house, and most significantly, acid house (a subgenre of house with the instantly recognizable squelch of the Roland TB-303 bassline generator). During the '90s, house ceased to be cutting-edge music, yet it remained popular in clubs throughout Europe and America. At the end of the decade, a new wave of progressive house artists including Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, and House of 909 brought the music back to critical quarters with praised full-length works. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house [Apr 2005]
Various - 80's Underground Clubbing
Label: Bang! Music
Catalog#: 313003
Format: 2xCD
Released: May 2004
Notes: "Underground Classics: cult tunes and rarities from the eighties. Compiled by Bernard Dobbeleer" - inspired by his DJ sets at La Chapelle club in Liège, Belgium. Packaged in digipack gatefold sleeve.
Sleeve notes list CDs as X and Y.
Sleeve note accompanying CD1-16: "If you happen to be a member of Nightmoves or someone from their publishing company, please contact us, we have royalties for you and a big box of belgian chocolates."
Tracklisting:
New Romantics
At the beginning of the 1980s some of the followers of punk rock began to be bored with it and wanted to make it more stylish and introduce elements of glam. By 1981 this trend had become New Romantics and the music was synthesiser electro-pop.
New Romantics tended to be slightly camp and fay of behaviour regardless of whether they were gay or not. There was a bisexual vibe generally, regardless of the individual's actual sexuality. The clothes style was a return to the freak scene's roleplay of fashions from previous eras or imagined future ones. It was like using fashion to create a time warp. According to the music press at the time there were some alternative names New Romantics wanted to call themselves. One was Futurists and another was the cult with no name. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_subcultures_in_the_20th_century#The_1980s [Dec 2004]
Post-punk
Post punk and post hippie elements continued and a particular type of anarchist-pacifist subculture centred around the records being put out on the independent Crass label by Crass themselves and other bands including The Poison Girls. Crass records was a very independent operation enabling bands with an extremely raw sound to put out records when the major labels might not have bothered with them. Crass also organised gigs around the country for themselves and other bands and campaigned politically for the anti-nuclear movement and lots of other causes they believed in. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_subcultures_in_the_20th_century#The_1980s [Dec 2004]
Rap
In American urban environments a form of street culture using freeform and semi-stacatto poetry combined with athletic break dancing was developing as the Hip hop and Rap subculture. In jazz jargon the word rap had always meant speech and conversation. The new meaning signified a change in the status of poetry from an elitist artform to a community sport. Rappers could attempt to outdo each other with their skillful rhymes. Rapping is also known as MCing, which is one of the four main elements of Hip hop: MCing, DJing, graffiti art, and breakdancing. From the early to mid 1980s poetry culture in a broader sense caught the same kind of energy as rap and so began the first of the Poetry slams. Poetry slamming became an irregular focus for the latest wave of poetry aficionados. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_subcultures_in_the_20th_century#The_1980s [Dec 2004]
Jazz
Wine bars gained popularity over the traditional pub as a meeting place in Britain of the 80s. Wine bars in fact gained such popularity that many pubs converted part of their premises to a wine bar style. Along with this trend was a resurgence of jazz, especially in the forms of Jazz funk and Smooth jazz. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_subcultures_in_the_20th_century#The_1980s [Dec 2004]
Rave
The free festival movement was still going in the 80s and, in fact, expanded to create different types of events. Free parties and raves began from the mid-80s and became a flourishing subculture. The music was electronic dance music which was a development of electronic music pioneered by Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage and others, taken by way of progressive rock bands like Hawkwind, filtered through the sounds of dub-reggae and the electro-pop bands like Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode and given a different twist via The Art of Noise and early hip hop and recycled psychedelia. Towards the end of the 80s rave culture had diversified into different forms connected to music such as Acid House and Acid Jazz and would continue to diversify into the 90s. Rave culture thrived from the mid-80s to the end of the century and beyond. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_subcultures_in_the_20th_century#The_1980s [Dec 2004]
Electropop
Electropop is a genre of synthesizer pop music which flourished during the early 1980s, although the first recordings were made in the late 1970s. Numerous bands have carried on the electropop tradition into the 1990s and 2000s. Electropop is often characterised by a cold, robotic, electronic sound, which is largely due to the limitations of the analog synthesizers used to make the music.
Electropop songs are pop songs at heart, with simple, catchy hooks and dance beats. But it differs from the later genres of electronic music it helped to inspire — techno, dub, house, Electroclash, etc. — in that strong songwriting is emphasized over simple danceability. Electropop is closely intertwined with the New Romantic movement of the early 80s, and the Synthpop and Electroclash movements of the 1990s and beyond. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electropop [Oct 2004]
Eighties Dance Singles
- Loose Joints - Is It All Over My Face
- Pharoah Sanders - You Got To Have Freedom (started the whole acid jazz thing)
- Eddy Grant - Nobody's Got Time (Timewarp)
- Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation
- Sylvester - I Need You
- Ramona Brooks - I Don't Want You Back
- Taana Gardner - Work That Body (Levan Remix)
- Kinky Foxx - So Different
- Sylvia Striplin - Give Me Your Love
- First Choice - Breakaway
- Gayle Adams - Stretchin' Out
- Geraldine Hunt - Can't Fake The Feeling
- Trussel - Love Injection
- Invisible Man's Band - All Night Thing
- Sparkle - Handsome Man (Levan Mix)
- Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
- Fantastic Aleems - Hooked On Your Love
- Edwin Birdsong - Rapper Dapper Snapper
- Visage - Fade To Grey
- Sharon Redd - Can You Handle It
- MFSB - Mysteries Of The World
- Chico Hamilton - Magic Fingers
- Chaka Khan - Clouds
- Two Tons Of Fun - Just Us
- Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - Super Rappin' Theme
- Brothers Johnson - Stomp
- The Fantastic Aleems feat. Leroy Burgess - Hooked On Your Love
- Billy Frazier & Friends - Billy Who?
- Talking Heads - Born Under Punches
- Yello - Bostich
- Ryuichi Sakamoto - Riot in Lagos
- Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved
- High Frequency - Summertime
- The Clash - Magnificent Dance
- Burundi Black - Rusty Egan
- Exodus - Together Forever
- Raw Silk - Do It To The Music
- Gwen McCrae - Funky Sensation
- Logg - I Know You Will (Levan 12" Remix)
- Inner Life - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
- Class Action - Weekend
- Taana Gardner - Heartbeat (12" Levan Mix)
- Secret Weapon - Must Be The Music [Prelude records]
- ESG - Moody
- Stone - Time
- Esther Williams - I'll Be Your Pleasure (Levan Remix 12")
- Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper
- Hi-Gloss - You'll Never Know
- Patti Labelle - The Spirit's In It
- Grandmaster Flash - The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel
- D Train - You're The One For Me
- Nick Straker Band - A Little Bit Of Jazz
- Jamaica Girls - Need Somebody New (12" Levan Remix)
- Empress - Dyin' To Be Dancin'
- Strikers - Body Music (12" Levan Remix)
- Unlimited Touch - Searching To Find The One
- Donald Byrd - Love Has Come Around
- Jimmy Ross - First True Love Affair (Levan 12" Mix)
- Tom Tom Club - Le Elephant
- Powerline - Journey
- Inner Life - Make It Last Forever (Levan Remix)
- Syreeta - Can't Shake Your Love (Levan Remix)
- MFSB - Love Is The Message (14 min. Tom Moulton Remix Vers.)
- Ednah Holt - Serious, Serious Space Party (Levan 12" Mix)
- Mona Rae - Do Me
- 80's Ladies - Turned On To You
- Logg - You've Got That Something
- Frontline Orchestra - Don't Turn Your Back On Me
- North End - Happy Days
- Conversion - Let's Do It
- Salsoul Orchestra - 212 North Street
- Rainbow Brown - Til You Surrender
- Arthur Adams - You Got The Floor
- Blue Feather - Let's Funk Tonight
- Ethel Beatty - It's Your Love
- Lesette Wilson - Caveman Boogie
- L.A. Boppers - Give Me Some
- Chaka Khan - I Know You I Live You
- Material - Secret Life
- Whatnauts - Help Is On The Way mixed Tee Scott
- A Number Of Names - Sharevari
- King Sunny Ade - Ja Funmi (Island)
- Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Niños del Parque
- Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit & Holger Czukay - How Much Are They?
- Ian Dury - Spasticus (Autisticus)
- Brian Eno - Jezebel Spirit
- Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
- Grauzone - Eisbär
- Pigbag - Papa's Got a Brandnew Pigbag
- DAF - Der Mussolini
- Material - Bustin' Out Tee Scott mix
- Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock [...]
- Michelle Wallace 'Jazzy Rhythm' Tee Scott
- Donna Summer - I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley's remix)
- Peech Boys - Don't Make Me Wait
- Grace Jones - Feel Up (Levan mix)
- Dinosaur L - Go Bang [Arthur Russell]
- Klein & MBO - Dirty Talk
- Debbie Trusty - Searchin' for Some Lovin' [Nick Martinelli]
- Chemise - She Can't Love You
- Raw Silk 'Do It To The Music' [Nick Martinelli]
- Fonda Rae 'Over Like A Fat Rat' [Fonda Rae]
- Indeep - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
- Bo Kool - Love Money [Jazz-Funk]
- Carly Simon - Why
- Denroy Morgan - Happy Feeling
- Funk Fusion Band - Can You Feel It [Nick Martinelli]
- Rockers Revenge - Walking On Sunshine [Jamaica]
- Fat Larry's Band - Act Like You Know + Whatnauts
- Leon Ware - Why I Came To California
- Sinnamon - Thanks To You [Shep Pettibone]
- Montana Sextet Heavy Vibes [Montana]
- Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (one of the very first 808s used for bass)
- Material - Let Me Have It All
- Patrice Rushen - Number One
- Heaven And Earth - I Really Love You
- Inner Life - Moment Of My Life
- Man Parrish - Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)
- Grace Jones - My Jamaican Guy
- Extra - Haven´t Been Funked Enough
- Willy Hutch - In and Out
- Touchdown - Ease Your Mind
- Plunky & the Oneness of Juju - Every Way But Loose
- Clark Sisters - You Brought the Sunshine
- Kasso - Key West
- New Order - Blue Monday
- Alicia Myers - I Want To Thank You
- Malcolm McLaren - Buffalo Gals
- Cybotron - Cosmic Cars [Juan Atkins]
- Universal Robot Band - Barely Breaking Even
- Valentine Brothers - Money's Too Tight (To Mention)
- Sun Palace - Rude Movements
- Grandmaster Flash - White Lines
- Gwen Guthrie - Peanut Butter
- Gwen Guthrie - Seventh Heaven (LP Version)
- Gwen Guthrie - Hopscotch
- Will Powers - Adventures In Success
- David Joseph 'You Can't Hide Your Love'
- Salsoul Orchestra - Ooh, I Love it (love break)
- O'Jays - Put Our Heads Together
- Visual - The Music Got Me
- Billie - Nobody's Bizness
- C-Bank - One More Shot
- Freeez - I.O.U.
- Montana - Who Needs Enemies (With A Friend Like You) You)
- Visual - Somehow, Someway
- Monyaka - Go Deh Yaka (Go To The Top)
- Unique - What I Got Is What You Need
- Fonda Rae - Heobah
- NYC Peech Boys - Warm Summer's Night
- System - You Are In My System
- NYC Peech Boys - Life Is Something Special
- NYC Peech Boys - On A Journey
- Captain Rapp - Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)
- Tracy Weber - Sure Shot
- Cuba Gooding - Love Is Just Around The Bend
- Status IV - You Ain't Really Down
- Loose Joints - Tell You (Today)
- Tania Maria - Come With Me
- Womack & Womack - Baby I'm Scared Of You
- Sinnamon - I Need You Now
- Glenn Jones - I Am Somebody
- Status IV - You Ain't Really Down
- Goldie Alexander - Show You My Love
- Gwen McCrae - Keep The Fire Burning
- First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder Shep Pettibone remix for Salsoul
- Doctor's Cat - Feel the Drive
- Oliver Cheatham - Saturday Night
- Eddy Louiss - Taureau
- Material and Herbie Hancock - Rockit
- Beastie Boys - Cooky Puss b/w Beastie Revolution
- Art Of Noise - Moments in Love
- Hashim - Al Naafiysh (The Soul)
- Public Image Ltd (PIL) - This Is Not A Love Song
- Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4
- Hugh Masekela - Don't Go Lose It Baby (Jive, 1984)
- Strafe - Set It Off [Walter Gibbons mix]
- Aleem - Release Yourself (feat. Leroy Burgess)
- Aleem - Get Loose (feat. Leroy Burgess)
- World Premiere - Share The Night
- Madonna - In The Groove
- Colonel Abrams - Music Is The Answer
- John Rocca - I Want It To Be Real
- Pushe - Don't Take Your Love Away
- Laid Back - The White Horse
- Liquid Liquid - Cavern
- Jesse Saunders - Funk You Up (raw funk from Chicago)
- Cybotron - Techno City (Juan Atkins)
- Roy Ayers - Poo Poo La La
- One Way - Mr. Groove
- Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy
- Tony Allen - Road Close (dub)
- Cameo - She's Strange
- Paris - I Choose You
- Yasuko Agawa - L.A. Night
- Earons - Land Of Hunger
- Evelyn Thomas - High Energy
- Mr. Fingers - Amnesia (Larry Heard)
- Royal House - Party People (Todd Terry)
- Royal House - Yeah Buddy
- Todd Terry Project - Weekend (rework of the 1978 classic)
- Raze - Break For Love
- Liz Torres - Can't Get Enough
- Adonis - No Way Back
- First Bass - It's Like That (Mark Kinchen with a killer bassline and old school drum rolls)
- Blake Baxter - When We Used To Play (Blake Baxter, the prince of techno)
- Inner City - Big Fun (Kevin Saunderson)
- Ce Ce Rogers - Someday
- The Nightwriters - Let the Music Use You
- Rythim is Rythim - Strings Of Life
- A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
- Stetsasonic - Talkin' All That Jazz (using Lonnie Liston Smith's Expansions bassline)
- Basement Boys - Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Jump Street records)
- Joe Church - I Can't Wait Too Long
- Adeva - Respect
- Kraze - The Party
- S-Express - Theme From S-Express
- Turntable Orchestra - You're Gonna Miss Me
- Pfortune - String Free
- Black Riot - A Day in the Life (Todd Terry)
- Hardhouse - Check This Out (Todd Terry)
- Samba De Flora - Airto Moreira
- Mr Fingers - Stars
- Jevetta Steele - Calling You
- Mayday - Freestyle
- Kevin Saunderson - The Groove That Won't Stop (1988)
- Inner City - Good Life (Kevin Saunderson)
- Fingers, Inc. - Never No More Lonely
- Lola - Wax the Van
- Fingers, Inc. - Mystery Of Love
- Royal House - Can You Party
- Blaze - If You Should Need A Friend
- Reese & Santonio - The Sound
- LNR - Work It To The Bone
- Tramaine - The Rock
- Touch - Without You
- Prince - Sign Of The Times (12"/LP)
- Liz Torres - Mama's Boy (12")
- J.M. Silk - I Can't Turn Around
- Janice Christie - Taking Me For Granted (12")
- Jungle Wonz - Time Marches On
- Joe Smooth - Promised Land
- J.M. Silk - Let The Music Take Control (12")
- Reese - Just Want Another Chance (Kevin Saunderson)
- Jump St. Man - B-Cause (Jump Street records)
- Arnold Jarvis - Take Some Time Out (Quark records)
- R-Theme - R-Tyme (recorded winter 1987 by Derrick May)
- Reese - Rock to the Beat (Kevin Saunderson)
- Rhythim is Rhythim - Strings of Life (Derrick May)
- Nitro Deluxe - This Brutal House
- Adeva - In And Out Of My Life
- Maurice's - This is Acid
- Phuture - Acid Trax defined a genre [Acid House]
- Ten City - Devotion (Byron Stingily)
- Ralphi Rosario feat. Xavier Gold - You Used To Hold Me
- Tullio De Piscopo / Stop Bajon... Primavera --> classic balearic
- Blake Baxter - Sexuality
- Park Ave - Don't Turn Your Love
- Exit - Let's Work it Out (Blaze)
- In-Sync - Sometimes Love (Blaze)
- Taravhonty - Join Hands
- Marrs - Pump Up The Volume
- Fingers, Inc. - Mysteries of Love
- Chip E. - Like This (12")
- Gwen Guthrie - Seventh Heaven/Getting Hot/Peanut Butter
- T.C. Curtis - You Should Have Known Better
- J.M. Silk - Music Is The Key
- Steve Hurley - Jack Your Body
- Tramaine - Fall Down (Spirit Of Love) with the famous 'I Need You' sample
- Tony Paris - Electric Automan
- Colonel Abrams - Trapped
- Carl Bean - I Was Born This Way
- Alexander Robotnick - Problemes D'Amour
- Nile Rodgers - State Your Mind/Stay Out Of The Light (Levan 12" Remix)
- Rochelle Fleming - Love Itch
- Serious Intention - You Don't Know
- Farley Jackmaster Funk - Farley Knows House (Chicago has the rawest tracks)
- Wally Badarou - Chief Inspector
- Model 500 - No UFOs
- Roberta Gilliam - All I Want Is My Baby
- Skipworth & Turner - Thinking About Your Love
- Jenny Burton - Bad Habits
- Chocolate - It's That East Street Beat
- Under Me Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith
- Fingers, Inc. - Can You Feel It (vocals by Chuck Roberts)
- Farley Jackmaster Funk (featuring Darryl Pandy) - Love Can't Turn Around
- Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body (House Music Anthem)
- Russ Brown - Gotta Find A Way
- The It - Donnie (12") [Larry Heard]
- Willie Colon - Set Fire To Me
- Man Friday - Love Honey, Love Heartache (12" Levan Mix)
- Gwen Guthrie - Outside In The Rain
- Fred Fowler - Girl You Need A Change Of Mind (Kendricks Remake)
- Anthony & The Camp - What I Like
- Jungle Wonz - The Jungle
- Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait
- Dhar Braxton - Jump Back
- Dinosaur L - Corn Belt (Levan Mix; Compilation LP)
- Aleem - Love's On Fire
- Hanson & Davis - I'll Take You On (12" Levan Mix)
- Kraftwerk - Music Non-Stop
- Cultural Vibe - Ma Foom Bay
- Indean Ocean - Tree House / School Bell
- Arthur Russell - 'Let's Go Swimming'
- X Ray - Let's Go (Derrick, Kevin and Juan, the Belleville three)
- Main Thing - Shot (ultimate slow groove on Easy Street)
- Fonda Rae - Touch Me (All Night Long)
- Serious Intention - Serious
- Full House - Communicate
- Loleatta Holloway - So Sweet (1986 or 1988)
- Jamie Principle - Your Love
- Split Second - Flesh [...]
- African Head Charge - Throw It Away
- Jerry Edwards - I am somebody
- French Kiss by Lil' Louis
- Jungle Brothers - I'll House You
- Frankie Knuckles present Satoshi Tomiie - Tears (feat. Robert Owens)
- Sueno Latino - Sueno Latino (E2-E4 reinterpretation)
- 808 State - Pacific State
- Symbols and Instruments - Mood (Mark Farina)
- Octave One - I Believe
- Ten City - Where Do We Go
- Black Box - Ride On Time
- Frankie Knuckles - Your Love/Baby Wants To Ride
- S'Express - "Theme from S'Express"
- Mr Fingers - What about this Love
- Steve Poindexter - Work That Mutherfucker
- R-Tyme - R-Theme
- Psyche - Crack Down
- Owens, Tomiie, Knuckles - Tears
Techno
With May having met Atkins and Saunderson at high school, the trio hung out in the early eighties and slowly begun developing their own scene. Influence and inspiration came from imported European electropop crystallised by the likes of Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, New Order and Nitzer Ebb and a fascination with synthesisers. With Juan's primitive electro dabblings as Cybotron and with Derrick and Kevin spinning on local mix station WJLB, it wasn't long before they pooled their ideas musically. During this period Atkins had introduced May and Saunderson to Alvin Toffler's book "The Third Wave", which tells of 'Techno Rebels as agents of the Third Wave', their assigment being to help advance new stages of civilisation by utilising the skills and characteristics of both man and machine with equal placing, but with man still in control. These are the roots of 'techno'. [...]
Electronica
While Electronic sounds had been in the European music scene since the mid to late seventies, the cheaper and more widely available Japanese electronic gear set off a musical revolution in Detroit, Chicago and New York. The music that this revolution gave birth to was called techno, house or garage, depending in which of the previously mentioned cities you partied at.
Kraftwerk
Germany gave the world Kraftwerk, who were a major musical influence on Afro-American dance community of the early eighties. [...]
Electro [...]
Electro-Funk is undoubtedly the most misunderstood of all UK Dance genres, yet probably the most vital with regards to its overall influence. Central to the confusion is the term itself, which during 82/83 (before it was shortened to electro) was specific to the UK. From a US perspective this music would come under a variety of headings (including Hip-Hop, Dance, Disco, Electric Boogie and Freestyle), arriving on import here in the UK, mainly on New York labels like West End, Prelude, Sugarhill, Emergency, Profile, Tommy Boy, Streetwise, plus numerous others. Just as Northern Soul was a British term for a style (or group of styles) of American black music, so was electro funk, and, like Northern, the roots of the scene are planted firmly in the North-West of England. [...]
Producers
Some noteable producers, DJs and remixers of the eighties, the second wave of dance music influencers, were Shep Pettibone, Tony Humphries, John Morales, Todd Terry, Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Jellybean, Francois Kevorkian,David Morales and Timmy Regisford.New wave
For the 1981 Village Voice Pazz and Jop Critics' Poll, Lester Bangs turned in a blank ballot, protesting the worthless state of rock and roll. New Wave has terminated in thudding hollow Xeroxes of poses that aren't even annoying anymore," he wrote. "Rap is nothing, or not enough. Jazz does not exist as a musical form with anything new to say. And the rest of rock is recycling various formulae forever. I don't know what I'm going to write about - music is the only thing in the world I really care about - but I simply cannot pretend to find anything compelling in the choice between pap and mud." [...]Rap
The eighties were hip-hop's most creative and influential period. The era produced the remarkable rhyme skills of Rakim and Slick Rick, the feminist flavor of Salt N' Pepa, MC Lyte, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah, the agitprop poetry of Public Enemy, and the gangsta soundtrack of N.W.A.Highlights include Chuck D, Salt N' Pepa, Run-DMC, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, and De La Soul's landmark record 3 Feet High and Rising. [...]
MAW
During the early '80s, Vega and Gonzalez were noted DJs around New York, though Vega immersed himself in house and freestyle while Gonzalez entered the rap scene. (The separate interests came in handy later, as dance fan Vega concentrated on songwriting and groove-making while hip-hop head Gonzalez programmed beats and samples.) The pair were also working separately as producers, and Vega had already made a name for himself working on dozens of freestyle tracks and remixes by Nice & Smooth, Information Society and India. Gonzalez, working as a mobile DJ with a team calling themselves the Masters at Work, founded his own Dope Wax Records and worked on production for all of the major New York dance labels: Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Cutting and Big Beat. In 1987, he loaned out the name Masters at Work to Todd Terry for the 1987 single "Alright Alright", then Terry returned the favor one year later by introducing him to Vega. [...]
Madonna
The roots of Madonna are the early eighties New York club scene and people like Arthur Baker, Shep Pettibone and Jellybean and vocalists like Loleatta Holloway, Rochelle Fleming and Jocely Brown, Taana Gardner. [...]Rock
One of the problems with rock in the eighties was that, by the end of the decade, a "rocker" was as obsolete a social and musical figure as a pop singer had been in 1956. During the 1980s three revolutions had taken hold of popular music: the emergence of disc-jockeys as a creative force (in particular in house and techno music), the advent of hip-hop (and therefore of the "rapper"), and the marriage of industrial music, heavy metal and hardcore [...]. -- Piero Scaruffi [...]No wave
Stuck between Punk Rock noise and New Wave explorations, the No Wave scene was born in New York where it lived a short life in tight connection with downtown's avant-garde artistic crowd. Mostly an attitude towards music, it was characterized by the refusal of traditional Rock 'n' Roll format (chords, chorus...) and the incorporation of exterior influences such as Free Jazz (the Loft Scene), contemporary and black music (funk, disco). [...]Dancehall
The Channel One studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston was built by the Hookim brothers in the early seventies. Over the course of the decade Channel One became one of the most dynamic and influential recording studios in Jamaica, instrumental in moving reggae music on to the spare, heavy rhythms of the mid seventies and finally to the emergent dancehall sounds of the early eighties. [...]Labels
Other noteable trends were labels Trax records, Sleeping Bag, Jump Street and Uno Melodic records.
New York
By the `80's New York house could no longer be confined to the garage, but had spread into a mansion full of rooms, each with a different style. In one was the plush, inventive keyboards of Josh Milan on Blaze's "If You Should Need a Friend," in another the dreamy girl-group vocals of Jomanda's "Drifting." The Basement Boys transformed the simmering vocal tour de force "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" with ping-pong percussion and percolating, pipe-like keyboard effects. Phase II's "Mystery" weaved layered vocals into a carpet of polyrhythmic effects, a near-perfect marriage of man-made passion and machine-driven groove. And Todd Terry dispensed with a vocal narrative altogether on Royal House's "Can You Party," as he created a dance classic out of a delirious, near chaotic collage of electronic samples. At the core of this track is a repeated vocal hook that refutes Farley Funk's Chicago-only definition of house. As the vocal loop in "Can You Party" insists, all that matters on the dance floor is, "Can you feel it?"
Sampling
It was into this exciting and transitional environment that a young, would-be producer walked up to Vega and handed him a cassette. "This guy came up to the booth and said, 'My name is Todd Terry. I just wanted to give you these new jams.'" The night was drawing to a close, so Vega had a quick listen to the track that was about to turn Terry into New York's hottest house producer. "I was like, 'Wow! This is powerful!'" With its quick-fire sampling techniques and harder beats, 'Party People' introduced an edgy, hip hop aesthetic to the Chicago house sound, and Vega wasted little time in securing a reel-to-reel copy. "There was an instant reaction on the dance floor," he remembers. "I was playing 'Party People' six to nine months before it came out, so I got everybody into that sound." -- [...]
New Beat
"We felt like revolutionaries." and this is what they were, the people who at the end of the eighties gave shape to the Belgian dance scene. They were a small group of music fanatics and/or business people who heard what others didn't: the power of the beat, the energy of electronics. Techno heroes like Carl Graig are full of praise for Belgian dance music, the Chemical Brothers based one of their singles "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" on an old track from Praga Khan, and a couple of years ago also The Prodigy showed they were very good at borrowing from Praga. [...]Cocaine
When the drugs change, the music changes, too. Throughout the late seventies and into the eighties, as club culture spread globally, cocaine use became correspondingly widespread and this was reflected in music made for the dance floor [...]. Gradually, the disc jockeys who spun the records in the clubs began to become more important than the musicians who made them. [...]
Fave Eighties CDs
- Talking Heads - Remain in Light [Amazon US]
- Computer World - Kraftwerk [1CD, Amazon US]
- Padlock EP - Mixed by Larry Levan
- Clear - Cybotron [Amazon US]
- The Cramps - Bad Music for Bad People (1984) [1 CD, Amazon US]
- Sing & Shout (1985) - Chosen Brothers [1 CD, Amazon US]
- Shinehead - Rough & Rugged [1 CD, Amazon US]
- Come On Pilgrim [EP] (1987) - Pixies [ 1 CD, Amazon US] µ
- Big Black - Songs About Fucking[1 CD, Amazon US]
- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989) - De La Soul [1 CD, Amazon US]
Fave Eighties Movies
- Dressed to Kill (1980) - Brian De Palma [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Coup de Torchon - Bertrand Tavernier (1981) [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Q (1982) - Larry Cohen[1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Videodrome (1983) - David Cronenberg [1DVD, Amazon US]
- Blood Simple - Coen Brothers [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Tampopo [1DVD Amazon US]
- Blue Velvet (1986) - David Lynch [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) - Carl Gottlieb, John Landis [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Tetsuo: The Ironman (1988) -- Shinya Tsukamoto [1 DVD, Amazon US]
- Mr. Hire (1989) - Patrice Leconte [1 Video, Amazon US]
Natural High Vol. 1 - 4 (2001-2005) - Various Artists
Natural High Vol.4 (2005) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Track Listings
1. Ben E. King - Supernatural Thing (Pt.1)
2. The Notations - Take It Slow
3. Margie Joseph - Come On Back To Me Lover
4. Prince Phillip Mitchell - Make It Good
5. The Staples - Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (45 Edit)
6. Johnny Bristol - I Sho’ Like Groovin’ With Ya
7. Aretha Franklin - It Only Happens (When I Look At You)
8. Sergio Mendes And Brasil ‘77 - The Real Thing
9. Pratt & Mcclain - Whachersign
10. Marilyn Scott - Let’s Not Talk About Love
11. Wee Gee - Remember The Love
12. Side Effect - Georgy Porgy
13. Wornell Jones - It Must Have Been Love
14. Brenda Russell - It’s Something
15. Sadane - One-Way Love Affair
16. Chaka Khan - Any Old Sunday
17. Michael Franks - One Bad Habit
18. The Meters - Be My Lady (45 Edit)
19. Debra Laws - Meant For You
20. Leroy Hutson - Nice And Easy
Natural High Vol.3 (2003) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Track Listings 1. Street tough - King, Ben E. 2. It's all right now - Harris, Eddie 3. Do it to my mind - Bristol, Johnny 4. Do you realize - Aquarian Dream 5. Strange funky games and things - Dee, Jay 6. Hang it up - Rushen, Patrice 7. Easy does it - Hutch, Willie 8. Doin' it - McCrae, Gwen 9. Good times in life - Webb, Art 10. Something to fall back on - Joseph, Margie 11. Here we go again - Barretto 12. Is it love you're after - Turner, Spyder 13. Endlessly - Crawford, Randy 14. In my garden - Ware, Leon 15. Settle for my love - Rushen, Patrice 16. Deep - Rome, Richie
Natural High Vol.3 (2002) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Track Listings
1. Open Up - Chic
2. Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen
3. You're a Star - Aquarian Dream
4. Keep the Fire Burning - Gwen McCrae
5. Toque de Cuica - Airto Moreira
6. Maracatu Atomico - Gilberto Gil
7. Sideway Shuffle - Linda Lewis
8. Game of Life - Chameleon
9. You Can't Hide Love - Art Webb
10. Simple and Sweet - Roy Ayers
11. Feeling Something - Ronn Matlock
12. Call on Me
13. Feel Like Loving You Today - Donald Byrd
14. Rockin' You Eternally - Leon Ware
15. Mysterious Maiden - Chico Hamilton
16. Very Special - Debra Laws
Natural High Vol.3 (2001) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
1. Spoiled (Ben E King) 2. Midnight Lover (Side Effect) 3. That's Why I Came To California (Leon Ware) 4. Riding High (Faze O) 5. Loving You (Donald Byrd) 6. Funky Sensation (Gwen Mccrae) 7. I Can't Forget About You (Ronn Matlock) 8. Move Me No Mountain (Dionne Warwick) 9. Overdose Of Joy (Eugene Record) 10. Sweet Rain (Dee Dee Bridgewater) 11. Sandman (The Undisputed Truth) 12. How Long? (Debra Laws) 13. Paradise (Leroy Hutson) 14. Remind Me (Patrice Rushen) 15. Holdin' On (to Your Love) (Terry Callier) 16. Warm Weather (Pieces Of A Dream)
see also: soul
Electro CDs
- Vol. 1-Classic Electro [Amazon US]
1. Walking on sunshine - Rockers Revenge & Donnie Calvin 2. Don't make me wait - Peech Boys 3. White lines (don't do it) - Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel 4. Hip hop be bop (Don't stop) - Man Parrish 5. Rockit - Hancock, Herbie 6. Smurf - Brunson, Tyrone 7. In the bottle - COD 8. London bridge is falling down - Newtrament 9. Al Naafiysh (The soul) - Hashim 10. Magic's wand - Whodini 11. Wildstyle - Time Zone 12. Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the wheels of steel - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
[Don't Make Me Wait in a 10 minute version by the Peech Boys.] [...] - Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. 4 [Amazon US]
1. Don't Stop The Rock - Freestyle 2. I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version) - Lisa-Lisa & Cult Jam 3. White Horse - Laid Back 4. Rock Me - Connie 5. Rock The Planet - The Megatrons 6. Computer Power - Jamie Jupitor 7. Technicolor (Long Mix) - Channel One 8. How To Be A Zillionaire (Wall Street Mix) - ABC 9. Dance - Egyptian Lover 10. It's Automatic - Freestyle 11. Juice - The World Class Wreckin Cru 12. Rockberry Jam - L.A. Dream Team - Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. 3 [Amazon US]
1. Skanless Electric Funk Megamix (Phase 2) - Steve Yano/Juice 'The Electric Wire' 2. White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) - Grandmaster & Melle Mel 3. Take A Chance - Nuance 4. Looking For The Perfect Beat - Afrika Bambaataa & SoulSonic Force 5. Jam The Box - 'Pretty' Tony 6. Taste So Good - File 13 7. Naughty Boy - Uncle Jamm's Army 8. All Night - Trinere 9. The Party Has Begun - Free Style 10. Calling On The Dream Team - L.A. Dream Team 11. Celebrate! (Everybody) - Globe & Pow Wow 12. Surgery - The Wreckin Cru 13. Dubb Girls (The Ultimate Mix) - Egyptian Lover
- Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. 2 [Amazon US]
1. Siberian Nights - Twilight 22 2. Computer Age (Push The Button) - Newcleus 3. Egypt, Egypt - The Egyptian Lover 4. Pack Jam (Look Out For The OVC) - Jonzon Crew 5. Reckless (Club Mix) - Chris 'The Glove' Taylor And David Storrs; Rap By Ice-T 6. R-9 - Cybotron 7. When I Hear Music - Debbie Deb 8. Young Ladies - Fast Lane 9. 122 B.P.M. - Jive Rhythm Trax 10. Jam On It - Newcleus 11. Funky Little Beat - Connie 12. Let The Music Play - Shannon - Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. 1 [Amazon US]
1. Skanless Electric Funk Mega-Mix - Juice 2. Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa/The Soul Sonic Force 3. Electric Kingdom - Twilight 22 4. Play At Your Own Risk - Planet Patrol 5. Mirda Rock - Reggie Griffin/Technofunk 6. Who Are You Stealin' From - Guru 7. Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) - Hashim 8. Clear - Cybotron 9. Release Yourself - Aleem 10. Rockit - Herbie Hancock 11. Megamix II: Why Is It Fresh? - D.ST. 12. Jam On Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song) - Newcleus 13. Crazy Cuts - Grandmixer D.ST. -- liner notes by Brian Chin
More CDs
- Frankie Knuckles - Collection of Classics [Amazon US]
Two cds, one disco, one house, the house one is not exceptional, the disco one is. Disco CD (mixed) 1. Convertion - Let's Do It 2 .Cheryl Lynn - You Saved My Day 3. Bumble Bee Unlimited - Love Bug 4. Positive Force - We Got The Funk 5. Tempest Trio - Do You Like The Way That It Feels 6. Sharon Redd - Can You Handle It 7. Billy Frazier & Friends - Billy Who? 8. Candido - Thousand Finder Man 8. Billy Ocean - Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) 9. Paradise - Change 10. George Duke - I Want You For Myself 11.Eumir Deodato - Night Cruiser 12. Nick Straker Band - A Little Bit of Jazz 13. Juggy Murray Jones - Inside America - Old School Jams [1 CD, Amazon US]
1. One Way - Cutie Pie 2. Atomic Dog - Clinton, George 3. Get Down on It - Kool & The Gang 4. Rapper's Delight - Sugarhill Gang 5. Juicy Fruit - Mtume 6. And the Beat Goes On - Whispers 7. Got to Be Real - Lynn, Cheryl 8. Another Man - Mason, Barbara 9. Give up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) - Parliament 10. The Message - Grandmaster Flash & 11. Outstanding - Gap Band 12. I Wonder If I Take You Home [Extended Version] - Lisa Lisa 13. The Breaks - Blow, Kurtis Disc: 2 1. Just a Touch of Love - Slave 2. Weekend - Class Action 3. Boogie Down [Bronx] - Parrish, Man 4. On the Floor [Rock It] - Cook, Tony 5. Touch Me (All Night Long) - Rae, Wish Fonda 6. Is It All over My Face? - Loose Joints 7. No Parking (On the Dance Floor) - Midnight Star 8. (You Are My) All in All - Sims, Joyce 9. Disco Nights [Rock-Freak] - GQ 10. Fantastic Voyage - Lakeside 11. Walking on Sunshine - Rocker's Revenge 12. Encore - Lynn, Cheryl 13. Just an Illusion - Imagination 14. Say I'm Your #1 - Princess 15. I Feel for You [Remix] - Chaka Khan
Although I do not own this cd myself, it looks like a nice selection of mostly eighties US dance material. My personal favourites include Weekend by Class Action, Loose Joints of course, The Breaks by Kurtis Blow [...] - Best of Chicago Trax [2 CD Amazon US] more on Trax records Only 14;99$ for two CDs, don't know about the liner notes nor packaging.
1. On the House 2. Move Your Body - Marshall Jefferson 3. Baby Wants to Ride - Frankie Knuckles 4. Can't Get Enough - Liz Torres 5. Do It Properly - Adonis 6. You Used to Hold Me - Ralphi Rosario 7. 7 Ways to Jack - Hercules 8. Jackin' Me Around 9. I Like It - Razz 10. Iminxtc 11. Mind Games - Quest 12. Don't Make Me Jack - Paris Grey Disc: 2 1. Your Love - Frankie Knuckles 2. Bring Down the Walls - Robert Owens 3. Can U Feel It - Mr. Fingers 4. Children of the Night - Kevin Irving 5. Jungle - Jungle Wonz 6. Real Thing - Screamin' Rachael 7. No Way Back - Adonis 8. House Nation 9. String Free - Phortune 10. You Used to Hold Me - Ralphi Rosario 11. This Is Acid - Maurice 12. Ride the Rhythm - Kevin Irving 13. Move Your Body - Marshall Jefferson 14. Let's Get Busy
Original Eighties No Wave CDs
- Nine O'Clock Drop - Andy Weatherall [Amazon US]
1. Nice mover - gina x performance 2. Dominatrix sleeps tonite - dominatrix 3. Coup - 23 skidoo 4. My spine (is the bassline) - shriekback 5. Genius - quando quango 6. Water line - a certain ratio 7. Vegas el bandito - 23 skidoo 8. Black and white mix up - 400 blows 9. P2E remix - torch song 10. Warm leatherette - the normal 11. October (love song)'86 version - chris and cosey 12. Looks lie we're shy one horse - colourbox 13. Warrior charge - aswad
- In the Beginning there Was Rhythm - Soul Jazz records[1CD, Amazon US]
TRACKLISTING:
1. Shack up - Certain Ratio 2. Coup - 23 Skidoo 3. To Hell with poverty - Gang Of Four 4. Being boiled - Human League 5. She is beyond good and evil - Pop Group 6. In the beginning there was rhythm - Slits 7. 20 jazz funk greats - Throbbing Gristle 8. Knife slits water - Certain Ratio 9. 24 track loop - This Heat 10. Sluggin' for Jesus - Cabaret Voltaire 11. Vegas el bandito - 23 Skidoo
- Liquid Liquid - Liquid Liquid [Amazon US]
Most of the groundbreaking no-wave funk released in the early 1980s on the 99 label is in limbo, but Grand Royal has seen fit to reissue three Liquid Liquid EPs plus live tracks. Who were Liquid Liquid? A bunch of white art-school types, whose "Cavern" formed the basis for "White Lines"--the following lawsuit sank both 99 and Sugarhill Records. This EP is as much Steve Reich as James Brown as Fela Kuti and sums ups most of New York City's musical obsessions of the period. Minimalist bass, trance-like vibes and occasional melodica and you're left wondering why anyone would choose to listen to acid-jazz, when we have godhead such as this. --D. Strauss
- ESG - A South Bronx Story [Amazon US]
The four Scroggins sisters (Renee, Deborah, Valerie, and Marie) and neighbor Tito Libran burst on to the music scene from left field in 1981 with the remarkable success of "UFO" and "Moody" off their debut 12-inch record. Thanks to the ascendance of hip-hop, the South Bronx was very much on the musical map at the time. But ESG's minimalist funk, which featured live instruments, was closer in spirit to what was coming out of the U.K. at the time--PiL, Gang of Four, and the Factory label (which released ESG's first three songs). Their approach also had kinship to New York bands Konk, Bush Tetras, and Liquid Liquid (the latter two would become their label-mates on the semi-legendary 99 Records). "Moody" entered permanent rotation at New York dance clubs such as the Paradise Garage, while "UFO" became a hip-hop building block, used as sample material for at least a dozen other records (and still counting). The appeal of the tracks lay in the taut interaction between Deborah and Valerie's bass and drums, abetted by Marie and Tito's congas as well as Renee's sparse but precise guitar and unadorned vocal style. The stripped-down nature of the sound lent itself to hip-hop producers' layering on top of it and has helped the music successfully weather the intervening decades--there's none of that "What were they thinking with that synthesizer sound?" problem that afflicts some early '80s music. The CD includes much of their 99 Records output and tracks from their self-titled 1991 release on the Pow Wow label. The 99 Records label itself went down in legal flames, and that Renee Scroggins' apparently owns the rights to the music is noteworthy in itself. But the historical significance and sheer listenability of the music make this a most welcome reissue. --Bob Bannister - Disco not Disco[Amazon US]
1. Walking On Thin Ice - Yoko Ono 2. Cavern - Liquid Liquid 3. Tell You Today - Loose Joints 4. Spatisticus Autisticus - Ian Dury 5. Over And Over - Material 6. Wheel Me Out - Was (Not Was) 7. Kiss Me Again - Dinosaur 8. I Walk - Don Cherry 9. Voices Inside My Head - Common Sense 10. School Bell/Tree House - Indian Ocean 11. Macho City - Steve Miller Band
Three great Arthur Russell tracks, 'Tell You Today' and 'School Bell/Tree House', 'Kiss Me Again'. Ian Dury is a Sly & Robbie production. - Disco Not Disco 2 - [1CD, Amazon US]
TRACKLISTING: 1. Bostich - Yello 2. Let's Go Swimming - Russell, Arthur 3. Timewarp - Grant, Eddy 4. Spectacle (Sean P edit) - Can 5. White Horse - Laidback 6. Problems d'Amour - Alexander Robotnik 7. Radio clash - Clash (2) 8. Ciguri - Material 9. Sting - Waits, Barry 10. Listen to the Rhythm Band - MD 20 20 11. Get down - Case, Connie & King Sporty 12. Fourteen days - Lex (2)
Conventional wisdom equates late-'70s/early-'80s disco with velvet ropes and coked-up supermodels, but Joey Negro and Sean P.'s ongoing Disco Not Disco series makes a convincing case for the N.Y.C. discotheque as a place where bold genre-blurring experimentation thrived under the guise of recreation. Where Disco Not Disco 1 spotlighted avant-funk bands, part deux works like an electroclash crash course, with a collection of tracks that suggest Kraftwerk was a more important influence on East Village culture than the Velvet Underground or Ramones. Several nations come together under one groove here: the Clash and Can get cross-wired with Yello's classic "Bostich" and Material's "Rapper's Delight" redux "Ciguri," and if much of DND2 sounds dated... well, isn't that why you're listening in the first place? -- Gern Blandsten